Watering Bowl, "your best friend's bar," could finally open this week

TheWatering Bowl has been touting Dogoween, its Halloween party, for weeks. But the opening of this dog-friendly bar at 5411 Leetsdale Drive has been dogged by delays; the owners hope to finally open "your best friend's bar" later this week. In the meantime, here's a look at what you and your best friend will enjoy there.

From the front, it doesn't look like much. But out back, it's a scene from All Dogs Go To Heaven.

Watering Bowl owners Justin Henry, Jared Henry and TS Smith wanted to be able to bring their dogs when they went out on the town -- but they couldn't find a spot. So they decided to make it happen by opening their own place. "Who doesn't want to go have a beer with their dog?" points out Justin Henry.

The 13,000 square-foot space was most recently an antiques/furniture store; now it has a full liquor license and a huge, dog-friendly patio out back. "We can keep you fat, drunk and happy," says Justin Henry. "I don't know if we're the biggest patio in Denver, but we're definitely going to be the best."

The patio is more than just dog-friendly. It's a free-run haven for your best friends.

Really though, the place is about the dogs -- and giving back. Even before it opened, Watering Bowl collected five tons of dog food donated by Monarch Pet Products and is partnering with Paw It Forward, a new non-profit, to help distribute it to over forty local rescues. "That's kind of the basis for this," says Henry. "Anything we can do for the dogs."

This is just a part of the stash that Monarch Foods donated.

And once Watering Bowl opens, they'll take it further with adoption events every weekend. "If you ever see a dog out here with a bow on its collar, it's adoptable," explains Henry.

These two are clearly enjoying a taste of what's to come.

The Watering Bowl is open to all -- except dogs banned under Denver County's breed restriction policies. "We want your dog here," says Henry. "If we love your dog, and you come here without your dog, we're probably going to make you go home and get the dog and bring it back -- in a joking way, of course."